Chasm
by ForestFireSong
Summary: Starting to adjust to college life, Mike was relieved to spend a weekend with the Samurai team, even though he feels like things were left unresolved. But a gathering turned into the near apocalypse as monsters are more than simple beings- they're the embodiment of hate and resentment. Now that they're isolated in a battle-ridden city, what are they to do? [As Seasons Pass sequel]
1. Chapter 1

Most of the time Mike would get annoyed with his roommate for waking up so early; while he always tried to snag extra sleep, Richard always got up at what was to Mike the crack of dawn. Never mind that that the green ranger had classes at 8:00, he would sleep in as late as possible before dashing across the campus grounds to make it to his early morning science.

However, on a particular Friday morning, Mike was appreciative of Richard's awakening. If he had tried to sleep in as late as usual, he would have missed Mia's call.

Mike had been lying in bed, just barely closing his eyes from the noise that had roused him when his phone went off. A second earlier and the phone would've gone spiraling to the floor from Mike's outstretched hand, but now he was awake enough to sit up, his sheets twisted about him, and fumbling for the phone before finally grabbing it and answering the call.

"He…." He yawned. "Hello?"

"Hi Mike!" a perky voice from the other end. It was familiar, but startled Mike a bit.

"Mia?"

He had been expecting to see her later that day, but certainly not at 7 in the morning. That weekend, he, along with all of the other Samurai rangers, had been planning to meet up at Emily's house, where she and Jayden would already be, and then go to Paranorma City to just be together. Mia had been going to culinary school, but had been staying with Kevin for a little bit. The two of them were supposed to pick Mike up from college- not being in possession of a car, he didn't particularly want to walk to the bus station.

Which, as he discovered a few minutes later, he would have to do regardless.

"So, Mike, how's college been?" Mia asked warmly after hearing his confused response. The best her cheerful voice did, though, was prompt Mike to rise from bed.

"Mia, it's way too early for you to be sounding so upbeat…" Mike groaned. He flipped on the lights Richard had so courteously flipped off en route to the bathroom a few minutes ago. The bright lights were blinding, but at least it helped Mike wake up and sound not so groggy over the phone. And it illuminated the messy dorm room, so Mike didn't trip in the middle of the conversation.

"Okay, I know you're not a morning person, so I'll make it quick." Mia compromised. "I know Kevin and I were supposed to pick you up today to drive to Emily's, but we can't. I'm really sorry! Something came up!"

"What?" Mike's mind processed the thought. He'd have to walk to the bus station anyway- crap. And, of course, why Mia and Kevin were going back on their plans… "What came up? You really consider going on one last romantic date with Kevin before being stuck with us lot is more important than picking up, if we're considering you the big sister of the team, your car-less little brother and driving him to a reunion of friends?"

"No, no, definitely not!" Mia exclaimed. "No- actually, it's a surprise. I'm really sorry, Mike, and Kevin is too. You'll be able to make it to the bus station, right?"

"Yeah…" Mike responded.

"Okay, that's great. Don't worry, part of it is that I have to buy ingredients and make a really special dinner for everyone!"

Mike could almost feel last night's cold pizza coming up. "Um, Mia, you really don't have to. I mean, if you have another surprise, or something, then I'm sure we can order food, or go out, or something…"

"No, I've got it down. I've been to culinary school, remember?" Mia replied. Mike figured that maybe after a few months at school, her cooking had improved a bit. It didn't hurt to hope, at least.

"Well, you probably have early classes, so I'll leave it at that. Once again, I'm really sorry! See you later Mike- it was really good talking to you,"

"Nice talking to you too," Mike agreed, before hearing the click on the end of the line. Dropping the cell phone on his bed, Mike let out another enormous yawn. So he'd have to walk to the bus station and sit on a bus all the way to Emily's house.

That wasn't really the problem. The walk wasn't exactly that far, and it wasn't like Mike didn't have money to spare for the bus fare- he _did _have a job. He didn't know exactly what prevented Mia and Kevin from picking him up, but he was almost certain that they surrounded the blue ranger proposing to the pink, or something like that.

And that wasn't a _bad_ thing. Heck, if that were the case, Mike was thrilled for the two of them, as he'd seen it coming. But- and even Mike knew this was selfish- it also showed how easily they were moving on, starting a new life and slipping easily into it.

With Mike, that wasn't exactly the case. He had been running in place, locked in a fixed position. The tumble from Samurai life into college had been a hard, rough one, and moving onto to solid relationships beyond what he had with the other rangers would be just as tumultuous.

Of course, if those two were getting in engaged- well, a certain red ranger and a certain yellow ranger wouldn't be far behind, Mike could imagine. The universe seemed to mock him with the fact that bright yellow and red were the first colors he saw, two of Richard's shirts on the floor, presenting themselves in front of him side-by-side. That was simply the universe spiting him. _Seriously._

But of course, _that_ wasn't a problem for Mike either- if Emily and Jayden married, fine! And Lauren and Antonio- what the heck? He had a life outside of past injuries!

A life of eight o'clock classes, small dorm rooms (thank goodness he had gotten over claustrophobia) feeling bad for making his mom pay for his college expenses since he couldn't get a scholarship, an upcoming frantic sprint across the campus- Mike had a life, one that suited him fine.

The green Samurai hustled into the back of his first class of the day, Biology. It was held in an auditorium to accommodate the large number of students, and Mike strained his ears to listen to the speaker. It was difficult, considering his position.

He swung his bag over to his shoulder as he shifted to one foot to another. As he did that, he heard an exclamation of "Ow!" behind him, and turned around to see what he had managed to hit that morning.

Behind him was a girl with dark brown hair, a shade close to black and brown eyes. She was dressed in black jeans and a white t-shirt that was mainly obscured by a black jacket. She was cute, but Mike's mind couldn't come up with anything intelligent to say to her after hitting her with his bag, and any attempts he had tried before had failed miserably. She also looked indignant and sleep-deprived; as Mike himself was (maybe his need for more sleep came from staying way too late playing video games- he'd never confess to it, though).

"I'm sorry," Mike sighed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," the girl replied. Mike began to breathe a sigh of relief, until she added, "Can't you even look behind you when you're swinging all your crap around?"

"Excuse me?" Mike said, any semblance of a flirtatious thought gone from his head. "A little testy in the morning, aren't you? I apologized!"

"Testy?" the girl repeated, a bit red in the face as she rubbed her head. Mike could've sworn he hadn't hit her that hard. "You're the one who's so dazed you hit me in the head! What should I say, Mr. Morning Guy- thanks?"

"A simple 'yes, I'm all right' would suffice- and it did!" Mike replied, now facing the girl and not paying attention to any glances they were getting.

"'Yes, I'm all right,'" the girl said, half-mockingly, although Mike couldn't really tell.

The two of them averted their eyes from each other as an awkward silence fell over them. Finally, Mike turned towards the girl. She'd ticked him off, that was for sure, but for some reason her comments both stung and bounced off of him. It felt half-hearted, like friendly fights with one of the fellow Samurai.

"I'm Mike," he finally said as they both listened to the Biology lecture.

"I'm Abby," she replied back. "And before you say anything, I'm sorry, but I don't take kindly to being hit by things early in the morning by fellow freshmen, so if you could-…"

"Excuse me, could you two please be quiet?" a voice asked sharply from behind them.

"Yes, sorry," Abby replied. Mike wanted to gape at that, but instead thought to himself, _I can't really tell how she acts on a daily basis…but for some reason she was polite to him and not to me…oh, screw it. Why is it that in college I still don't get girls? Oh, right, because no one does._

Still, Mike found himself talking to Abby throughout the lecture- she was full of witty remarks or something sarcastic to say. Even though their initial meeting had been a disaster, and they could still probably find more pointless things to disagree on, Mike couldn't disregard the feeling of happiness when Abby wrote down her number for him, and vice-versa.

"We'll always have something to talk about," Abby had told him offhandedly. "or at least, it seems that way with you."

From the moment Mia had told him he'd have to go to Emily's on his own, Mike thought there wouldn't be much to look forward to that day, at least not until he actually got to said house, but a several numbers had managed to make it all the better.

Mike approached the door to Emily's house, finishing the candy bar that was in his hand, one of several he had eaten on his bus trip. The school day had finally ended, and he'd packed his things for the weekend in quick succession before heading for the bus stop, not even minding the walk- well, not really. Now that he was in front of the door to the house, Mike steeled himself. He'd talked to each member of the team many times since he'd gone to college, emailed them too, but now that he was about to be confronted with them, he wasn't really sure what to expect.

With Emily, he'd probably get her gentle affection and questions about everything concerning college, and her willingness to listen. It hurt a little, to think about it, so Mike imagined everyone else. It'd be good to see Jayden again- even though their personalities had clashed, Mike still enjoyed being around the red ranger. As for Antonio- would there be a prank? Lauren- oh God, Lauren, he didn't even know what to say to her. Kevin and Mia wouldn't be there yet, he was pretty sure. Still, there'd be bad cooking and energetic friendliness from Mia and teasing from Mike, to Kevin, just like the old days.

Except not quite.

Mike didn't want to stand around all day on Emily's porch, though, so with his bag in one hand, he knocked on the door.

A few moments passed, and then it was flung open. And then it all came in, all at once. Right in front of Mike was Emily, with her blond hair and bright eyes and caring smile, saying his name warmly and excitedly. Right in front of him was everything he had ever loved, and all the flaws too, which he'd accepted. The nostalgia nearly choked him, but Mike managed to smile, which gradually grew larger. Anything sad of his never stayed that way for long in the presence of Emily.

Then Jayden appeared behind her. Emily had apparently led him, by hand, all the way down the hall to come greet him at the door. For a split second, Mike smiled and returned Jayden's 'hey' with complete satisfaction because Emily looked impossibly happy at that moment, and it was kind of hard for resentment to wedge its way into Mike.

But it did. The second passed, and Mike suddenly felt a coldness, traveling through up his spine and into his mind. It froze his smile in place, but etched a small trace of jealousy into his heart at the sign of those entwined hands.

What was the matter with him? He was done with it; he'd given Emily up and was fine with it. Mike felt slightly disgusted with himself. Especially at how the envy towards those special shared smiles and hands grasped so tightly still remained.

As Emily invited Mike inside, asking questions and talking about what had changed since they had seen each other last, Mike cast one last glance over his shoulder. The day was bright and clear outside, but a looming tree still cast a shadow. It looked…thick and oily, and generally not at all like a shadow. The tree's branches seemed to stretch, and the shadow on the ground seemed to do the same, each arm reaching out and nearly winding around Mike's ankle.

And then the door closed shut, blocking Mike off from the shadow, but not leaving him completely reassured.


	2. Chapter 2

"Nice house, Emily." Mike remarked as he entered the house, hauling his luggage behind him. And it really was. Growing up out in the country, Mike hadn't exactly expected Emily to have grown up in a barn, but he also hadn't anticipated the sunny, spacious house he was presented with. It felt homey and cozy, and while Mike knew Emily hadn't had an ideal childhood, he could almost feel her happiness at being home, a place with at least a few pleasant memories, warming the air.

Or maybe that was just Emily herself, as was so often the case.

"Thanks," Emily responded happily. "Here, I'll show you to your room. We've got the whole place to ourselves, since Serena is staying with some friends this weekend. She's been getting so much better lately. Eventually she went out, and she made friends really quickly. Not surprising, though."

Emily smiled, mostly a gentle smile pleased for her sister. Still, Mike could pick up a small trace of inferiority in her voice and smile, if one could even show that in their expression. Even with little social interaction, Serena had still made friends amazingly fast. Even with the-great, Mike might add- friends Emily had now, the yellow ranger might've felt that her own social mishaps still showed how much better Serena was than her.

Since Mike had never met Serena (and he had actually been slightly curious and hoped to meet her that weekend; not that he was too disappointed) he had no way of telling whether or not she was superior to Emily in the aspects said ranger thought she was. He doubted it, since Emily was one of the most amazing people he had ever met. And Mike would've told her that, if not for…

There came the unwanted pangs of jealousy Mike had felt earlier. He tried to shake them off, again, but to no avail. Jayden probably told Emily that every day, and while he should've been happy that Emily was getting what she deserved, he could still feel the pangs.

"Yeah, let's go." Mike said, enthusiastically. "I want to get a full tour of the house, before Mia and Kevin come and suck up all your time."

"Oh, right, they're coming late, aren't they?" Emily asked as they walked up the stairs. Jayden had wandered off into some other room downstairs, apparently perfectly at ease in Emily's house.

"Yeah. Something about a surprise." Mike responded. He had called Emily while on the bus to explain why Mia and Kevin wouldn't be coming with him, even though Mia had already called. "Although I get the feeling that surprise may be in the dinner Mia promised to make for us."

"Mike!" Emily said, not meaning it in the slightest, as she had experienced Mia's cooking firsthand and, even being who she was, could not admit to never making jokes about it. "I think I know what it's about, anyway."

She didn't mention what it was, exactly, but as the two of them turned down the hallway, they both knew what the other was thinking.

"What about Lauren and Antonio? When are they getting here?" Mike asked casually. So casually, in fact, that he didn't think about cringing when mentioning the two of them together! It made me him feel quite a bit of self-loathing in envying his best friend and the girl he loved whenever he did that, so Mike felt accomplished.

He celebrated the small victories in life.

"Antonio said he was getting here sometime late tonight, and Lauren was pretty vague." Emily frowned as she tried to remember. "I think they'll be arriving generally around the same time, although pretty late. Antonio might be throwing frozen fish at your window at three in the morning, so be prepared, all right?"

"Okay," Mike replied seriously, not at all having a hard time imagining the gold samurai doing that.

"Well, here's your room." Emily halted, and gestured towards the room they had stopped at it. "We were going to have everyone fight over deciding who got to sleep on the couch, but as it turned out, we have plenty of rooms. I'll leave you to unpack, but come down later so you can tell us all about college life!"

Mike complied, and watched her walk back down the hall before turning back to his room. Like everything else in the house, it was wide and airy, with a bed situated against the wall and two large windows with translucent white curtains. Mike noticed that the bedspread was a pale green, and wondered for a moment if it had always been like that or if that was Emily's doing.

Other than that, there was a closet, a three-legged bedside table with a lamp, and a dresser against the other wall. Mike was reminded vaguely for a moment of being in a hotel, and pondered briefly over why Emily's house had so many spare rooms.

But then he was shaken out of that, and reminded even more of his first day of college, in his dorm, surrounded by luggage. Even while knowing what to do, he still felt lost.

**/ / /**

"…I hit her with my bag, she snapped at me, it was kind of awkward, and now I have her phone number." Mike finished his story of how he had met Abby earlier that day. It was a condensed version, to say the least.

"Wow." Jayden said. "You got her phone number after that?"

"I didn't hit her hard." Mike shrugged, just as Emily said, "Well, it's good that you're making friends."

Mike had been regaling them with tales of what had been happening in college. Honestly, there wasn't a lot to tell. He had friends, thank you very much, but he had actually been devoted to studying and it was only the first semester. Even while he worked in an arcade in a nearby mall, Emily and Jayden would have to wait a few months before he could experience really worth telling about.

Actually, telling them about how focused he was concerning his studies was probably dynamic enough for the red and yellow rangers. Ji would've been proud, but probably fainted first.

Emily glanced up at the clock. It was 7:40. "Well, should we order Chinese food now?" That had been their designated plan from the start, and they had only waited so long to order it because Emily wanted to be considerate and wait for Mia and Kevin to show up. Not necessarily so they could eat it as well, but mainly so Mia could cook her promised dinner. Emily didn't want to eat it any more than Jayden or Mike did, but she wanted to be kind to her best friend. Of course, there was still relief in her tone when she asked.

"Let's do it." Jayden said. "I think we've waited long enough, and Kevin and Mia will probably be hungry when they come, and we shouldn't make Mia cook."

"Yes, she can always do it tomorrow, right?" Emily added. Even though Mia wasn't there, they were all still being cautiously courteous when they talked. Maybe it was to apologize for choosing pot stickers and rice over Mia's new culinary skills (which were most likely exactly like her old ones.)

Emily had just gotten on the phone to a Chinese place she knew quite well, putting in an order with ease, when there was a knock on the door.

"What do you bet that's them?" Mike asked Jayden, who was sitting across from him. (Right next to Emily, not that Mike was bitter about it.)

"I don't bet anything," Jayden told him. "Who else would it be? Let's hope Emily's got the order in." The red and green rangers exchanged a smile for a moment, and even though there had been quite a sense of normalcy between them earlier, this was the most comfortable Mike had felt with Jayden the whole evening.

Jayden strode over to the door, since Emily was preoccupied with ordering. He opened it up, Mike standing right behind him, and was greeted with an image of Mia and Kevin.

"Hi!" Mia said brightly, Kevin's "hi" a little calmer.

"Come on in," Jayden told them warmly, genuinely pleased to see his old teammates again. The original five were together again, having survived everything that had been thrown at them. It was a good feeling, filled with camaraderie.

Then Mike wondered when he started to think like that.

Mia and Kevin entered the house. Mia had a sack with the insignia of a local grocery on it, as well as luggage, while Kevin had some baggage as well. Their hands were full, rendering them unable to hold anything else, but the blue and pink rangers were still close together, surrounded by an aura of comfort, of two people very close to each other.

That was when Mike could tell that what he had suspected about the two of them was true. He deigned to wait until they announced it- assuming they would- instead of tackling them with questions.

Meanwhile, Emily had stepped out of the kitchen, evidently done with ordering the food. "Mia! Kevin!" she exclaimed, smiling. She walked over to the two of them and hugged both of them. Mia set her luggage down, giving the yellow ranger a one-armed hug back, while Kevin just accepted it with a smile.

"I just ordered some Chinese food," Emily reported, standing back.

Mia glanced down at her groceries, and immediately Emily switched into worrying mode.

"I'm sorry, Mia, it's just that it was getting kind of late, and I wanted to have something for you to eat when you came, so I thought…"

"No, that's fine Emily." Mia smiled, somewhat determined. "I understand, and I wouldn't have wanted to make you guys wait! I'll just make everyone breakfast tomorrow morning!"

An ominous atmosphere fell over the assembled rangers as they all anticipated facing their doom the next morning.

Not that any of them knew that they'd be facing it that very night.

**/ / /**

Even though he wanted to talk to Mia and Kevin (and maybe messing with the latter), and was very interested in doing so, while Mike ate food from the paper plates they were all using, he found his gaze continually drawn to the darkened garden through the window.

For some reason he just kept looking there, even though everything remained the same. Looming dark trees, short leafy bushes, a path winding around flowerbeds and a white fence. Whenever his mind wasn't focused, that was where it turned.

Still, he'd turned it away from that when he heard Kevin say, "We have an announcement to make." The blue ranger had talked animatedly about training for the Olympics, but had also been reasonably quiet, most likely relishing eating the Chinese food. Kevin was a strong guy, with, Mike would guess, a stomach to match, and one who loved Mia a lot, but even he would need a break occasionally.

Anyway, when Kevin had said that- and there was no doubt as to who 'we' was- Mike had turned his attention away from the hydrangeas he had been studying and back to the lamp-lit living room they had been eating dinner in.

Kevin and Mia looked at each other, neither of them seeming to find the right words, and finally they just lifted their joined hands. Light bounced off of Mia's engagement ring.

"That's great!" Emily exclaimed happily, and hugged both Mia and Kevin again. Mike was fairly sure she had expected that to happen. In fact, he had guessed that too, and wondered if Jayden was the only one who hadn't.

It was surprisingly debatable. While Jayden was perceptive and focused, Mike really didn't know how adept he was at picking up things concerning love. Mike even knew that the red ranger had gone to a bookstore to find dating advice books when he had first started.

But considering how enamored Emily was with Jayden, Mike knew that he hardly needed them.

Putting that thought out of his mind, Mike rose and went over to Kevin first.

"Congrats," he said, smiling. "I thought it'd never happen. It was you, right? Mia didn't have to propose?" He knew the answer already, but Kevin was just so much fun to tease.

Kevin tried to glare at him, and failed. "Of course not. I was just waiting for the perfect opportunity."

"You'll have to tell me what it was later, so I can pick up some tips," Mike replied, half-joking. "But seriously, congratulations. You guys really are a great match." Even though neither of them were too affectionate (compared with Antonio) he gave Kevin a hug anyway.

Then Mike went over to Mia, and hugged her. Mia was beaming, looking the happiest he had seen her. And Mia looked happy a lot. When he released her, Mike said, teasingly, "So was this what made you unable to pick me up?"

Mia laughed. "It's not like we got engaged today, but we did have a lot to talk about. You shouldn't hold grudges, Mike!"

The atmosphere was light and warm as the friends all talked and joked with each other. They were comfortable with each other, the pleasantness fueled by their friendship, and, in the case of four of them, love. But that last part didn't matter to Mike, rather startlingly. At the moment, he was just happy for everyone to be together.

Of course, moments are just that, a few brief seconds. Mike's eyes were drawn to the garden again, before the ringing of the phone pierced the air.

Looking around him, Mike concluded that everyone was preoccupied. Besides, he was nearest to the door anyway. Indicating to Mia that he would get the phone, he dashed into the kitchen before it stopped ringing.

"Hello, Pirtle residence." Mike answered. He sincerely hoped it was telemarketers- it would've been helpful for Emily to get Caller ID, or at least not lose her cell phone- so he could slam it down and return to the living room.

He was surprised in that matter.

"…Mike?"

"Hi, Lauren." Mike replied. He'd had enough telephone conversations with her to be able to recognize her voice over the phone, and he was pretty sure the same applied in reverse.

"You're at Emily's already?" Lauren asked.

"It's 8:30, Lauren." Mike told her, laughing a little. "I've been here for some time- oh, and Kevin and Mia are here too. They just announced something important."

"Do you mean-?" Lauren didn't finish her sentence. She hadn't spent as much time around Mia and Kevin as the others had, so she hadn't necessarily watched the romance grow, so to speak, but they were pretty obvious about it towards the end of being samurai. Not as much as Emily and Jayden though.

And now Mike had the urge to bang his head against the wall. He refrained from doing so, and instead answered, "You'll just have to come and see."

"Okay," Lauren said. "I called to tell you guys that I'm in the airport and I'll be over soon, although I have a bit of driving to do." It had never occurred to Mike that Lauren could drive, but then again, most of the rangers could. All of them, maybe. She was of the right age, and he was sure all of what they taught her in the time- the majority of her life- Lauren had been training.

"All right. I'll tell everyone else," Mike promised.

For a moment there was awkward silence over the phone. Mike tried to shove it away, all the images in his head of red roses and Lauren's apologetic face. He hadn't had the problem, at least not very much, before in all the conversations he had shared with her.

"Well, bye then. I'll see you all later." Lauren told Mike.

"Bye," Mike replied, and there was a click on the other end as she hung up. Mike wondered if he'd just had a very useless conversation. That's what it had seemed like to him. He'd had been planning to ask if she had any idea when Antonio would be coming, but that thought had flown away when he'd started talking.

Mike suddenly felt very tired. He'd been jealous before, but he'd thought he had gotten over it. He'd also been tired before, but not this kind of fatigue. He felt like his head was being crushed under the weight, and his arms, after setting down the phone, fell limply to his sides.

Even though he'd wanted to return earlier, Mike found that his steps were abnormally slow as he returned to the living room. Everyone looked up expectantly when he returned.

"Who was that?" Emily asked.

"Lauren." Mike told her. "She's in the airport and is going to drive over here." He frowned. "Wait, is she going to rent a car or what?" He found himself looking over at Jayden, who merely shrugged.

_She has her ways, I guess…_ Mike thought, shaking his head. Still feeling the heavy tiredness, he looked up at the other rangers.

Mia was rummaging through her grocery bag, which she had retrieved and apparently had some dessert in. Kevin was watching her, setting everything she pulled out aside so it could be returned to the bag later. Emily and Jayden were quietly talking, complete with all the special smiles and looks Mike had noticed earlier.

"I'm going for a walk," Mike announced. Everyone looked up.

"Just in the garden," he added. "I just need to walk around and get some air- I was in a bus for the larger portion of today." He reminded all of them.

"Okay," Mia said. "We brought cake, so we'll save you a piece, all right?"

"Thanks," Mike told her, as he pushed open the back door, situated very conveniently on the other side of the couch. He sincerely hoped it was store-bought.

Entering the darkness of the garden, Mike took in a deep breath. The air was warm, left over from summer. It smelled earthy and only contained a semblance of a breeze. Around him, the sky was a dark blue, standing out against the blackness of the reaching tree branches. White stars twinkled from above.

Mike started to walk, mostly along the path. The air was rather refreshing to his brain. He didn't feel nearly as tired, at least. He closed his eyes, letting his feet take him a few steps. _Ah…_

Suddenly, something slammed into his face. Mike's eyes flew open. He expected to see a tree in front of him, but as soon as he touched the thing, he knew it wasn't a tree. It was supple and gave a little as he fell into it. His eyes were looking straight into blackness.

Immediately Mike stumbled backwards. The blackness rose in front of him, and the green ranger had absolutely no idea what it was. He reached into his pocket, groping for his Samuraizer…which of course wasn't there.

Before he could register the shock, a long tentacle of blackness shot towards him. Mike still had no idea what this thing was made of, and figured being touched by it was probably not a good thing. He tried to dodge, but was caught nonetheless.

He let a strangled yell as it wrapped around him, drawing him in. The blackness was soft and oily, but strong. It tightened around Mike's middle.

_So this is what I get for taking a walk in the garden? Screw fate! Assuming this isn't all a hallucination…why can't I get a break? This is not how I wanted to die, and not tonight…_

Mike struggled, feeling it was pointless, and continued to yell obscenities. Surely someone would hear him? He glanced up at the…thing holding him. It had no face, no visible body shape, just a wall of darkness stretching against the trees, with long arms holding him. Mike felt that he was going to be drawn straight into the darkness, and never return.

And even though it had no face or expression, the thing seemed to acknowledge Mike. The tentacle-like arm bobbed up and down as it retreated closer to its 'body' as though it recognized Mike. This only succeeded in creeping out the green ranger even more.

The worst part was- to Mike, anyway- the fact that Mike felt awful as he neared the wall of darkness. Awful physically- just as his exhaustion felt relieved, it had come back again, in full force, rendering his struggles weaker and weaker. But mentally too- Mike felt every bit of resentment and jealousy afresh. Just what he had been trying to get rid of.

That was more likely to consume him than any wall of darkness.

So thank God for the other rangers.

Apparently Mike's yelling had finally drawn them out, because even as fatigue seized Mike more vehemently, he could hear them calling his name.

_Do _they_ have their Samuraizers? Otherwise, I don't see how…_

Suddenly, Mike was dropped to the ground. There was no gradual release. He just fell, right from where he had been clasped above the ground earlier. The arm that had wrapped around him had disappeared, in a wisp of…nothing. It was simply gone.

Mike fell on his side on the grass. Despite the warmth of the air, it was slightly wet. That didn't bother him. The grass was still pretty soft, and comfortable. And above him, Mike could see the sky through the spindly-branched trees. Really, it was nice…

The faces of the other Samurai appeared above him. Their mouths were moving, so they were obviously talking, but Mike couldn't hear what they were saying, nor did he care to lip-read. His entire mind seemed to shut down, all except for sight. The image of the sky, criss-crossed by trees, stayed in his head.

And then that too shut down, making Mike's eyelids shut close in sleep, the main thing he had been looking forward to that morning when he had first woken up.

**A/N: I feel like it got bad towards the end…but I'm tired, like Mike, so I just need to sleep now :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello, I'm back to bring you another chapter! Next chapter things will get more action packed, I promise. This is just bringing in all the characters- now the stage is set, you could say. I have to admit, I had way too much fun writing that last part, though :D**

The first emotion that Mike felt when he opened his eyes was confusion. It wasn't confusion concerning the wall of darkness that had seized him while he was out walking, even though that would've been a justified thing to be confused about- instead, he was more bewildered at the fact that he was on his back in the grass, staring up at the night sky and the branches of the trees overhead.

For a second he couldn't fathom where he was, why he had been asleep outside- then it all came back to him, every detail from the past day.

_That _was when the true perplexity seized his mind. He tried to sit up, squinting into the trees to see where the thing had gone, not even noticing the other Samurai rangers around him.

That is, until one of them tapped his shoulder.

"Mike!" Mia said. Her dark eyes scanned him worriedly. "Are you all right?"

"Um…" Mike rubbed his head, still glancing around for the thing he had encountered what felt like only a few seconds ago. "How long was I out?"

"Only a few minutes." Kevin told him. The blue Samurai ranger had a concerned expression on his face. "Are you okay?"

Mike still felt disoriented, but inspecting himself, he couldn't see any physical wounds and felt fine- except for the exhaustion that he remembered feeling as the…whatever it was grabbed him. That could've been from stress and staying up late, though, and completely unrelated.

"I'm fine…" Mike said. "Ah…what was that, exactly?"

"You tell us." Jayden replied. "We just heard you yelling from inside, and when we came out here, the thing was already gone into the shadows. What did it look like?"

Mike thought for a moment. _Hm…what exactly did it look like? _"The shadows." He repeated. "It was basically a huge, moving shadow with…tentacle things. It was like a tangible shadow, basically."

"A tangible shadow…?" Emily repeated, looking stumped.

Jayden, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes. "Some kind of Nighlock?" he guessed. "Never mind what it is, it's obviously dangerous. I'm going to go look for it."

Emily reached over and touched his arm. "Be careful." A look passed between them for a split second before Jayden nodded and headed off into the darkness.

Mike flopped back onto the grass, suddenly feeling a piercing sensation in his forehead. _Crap…I have a really bad headache suddenly…_

"Are you sure he should've gone alone?" Kevin was saying. "That thing pretty much knocked out Mike."

"You know," Mike remarked from where he was staring up at Kevin, "I don't believe 'knocked out' is the best term. It nearly squeezed consciousness out of me, and then dropped me, while I was still conscious. I then endured for at least another minute that _you _chose to arrive, so-"

"He'll be fine." Mia assured Kevin. "The yard's not that big, and we're right here if he needs us."

Emily leaned over Mike, extending one hand. "Do you need help getting up?" she asked. Her brown eyes still looked worried, even though Mike felt fine physically. _It's just Emily. It's always Emily…_

He took her hand and she helped him up. Emily's hand was warm, as warm as the grass that he had laid on and the night air. On his feet, Mike felt a little woozy, a little disoriented, but other than that, he was fine- save for the exhaustion. Mike suspected that was what had knocked him out in the first place, although he wasn't sure if it was caused by the monster or not.

"Hey guys, I'm back." Mike turned to see Jayden, and upon seeing the red ranger emerge from the shadows, he dropped Emily's hand. He had still been holding on, for balance, and hadn't even realized it. Emily herself didn't seem to find anything wrong with that, and greeted Jayden with a "What did you find?" Mike, meanwhile, felt scandalized, despite the fact that nobody else noticed either.

_She offered to help me up! That's what friends do. And I agreed because I was on the ground…and kept holding on because I couldn't balance…and that's it…wow. I'm a mess. _

Mike turned his gaze over to Jayden, who was reporting to the other rangers what he had found- namely, nothing. "It doesn't take long to look around the backyard," he was explaining. "There's nothing there that I could see…I couldn't even find a trail."

"That's…weird." Mia said. "If it really was a giant moving shadow, I guess it wouldn't leave a trail. But I wonder where it is now…?"

Kevin rolled his eyes briefly. "Great, now we've got another thing to worry about. I hope it's not some new and improved Master Xandred…"

"I don't think we should worry about it now." Emily insisted. "It could be nothing…I mean, it doesn't sound like nothing, but maybe it's gone for good. Anyway, we can't go chasing after it now- it's too dark."

"I guess," Mike conceded.

"Okay, then let's go back inside." Emily said. Mike noticed how she was being unusually persistent on their dismissal of the shadow-thing as nothing. The reason for that was confirmed when she added, "Jayden and I have something to tell you."

"Really? What is it?" Mia asked, walking over to the yellow ranger and looking excited. Emily shook her head, looking even more excited than her. "We'll tell you when we get inside."

Mike glanced over his shoulder at Jayden as they all filed inside the house. He was still outside, where it was quite dark. The lights left on from the living room illuminated his face though, and Mike could almost swear he was slightly red.

They all entered the living room, and Mike saw the cake sitting in the center of the coffee table, the one Kevin and Mia had brought. Slices of the chocolate confection were neatly placed on paper plates that were in front of everyone's seating area- including his.

Mike was a lover of sweets, no doubt, and the confirmation that Mia had _not_ made the cake meant that it was most likely quite delicious, as she was adept at choosing good things to eat, and not making them. But quite honestly he was feeling drained, and despite his earlier enthusiasm, he wanted to go to bed. Still, he knew it would be quite rude to leave everyone, not eat the cake, and not hear Emily and Jayden's news.

That had completely piqued Mike's curiosity- not in a necessarily good thing, but he still wanted to know what it was they were announcing. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had an idea…

"Okay, so-" Emily had just begun talking when the doorbell rang, the sound resonating throughout the house.

"I should probably go get that- excuse me," Emily said. She didn't even look that miffed at having her news interrupted, and set off towards the door. Mike, knowing that it was probably Lauren, set down the cake he was about to eat in anticipation of greeting the red ranger.

And he was right; not even a minute later there was the sound of Emily exclaiming, "Lauren!" and the thud that was probably Lauren setting down her bags so she could hug Emily. Mike rose from his seat, as did everyone else, to go greet her.

"Hi," Lauren greeted all the rangers as they came to see and to help with her bags. She leaned over to embrace Jayden, and after exchanging a smile with her brother, she turned to Mike.

For a flash Mike felt awkwardness engulf them, but he quickly dispelled of it by smiling and saying, "So Lauren, is that car out there really yours?"

Lauren smiled back, perhaps relieved that there was no longer tension. "Rental," she replied, bringing Mike into a hug as well. They hadn't seen each other, only phoned and emailed, since she had gone to Paris. Which Mike happened to bring up at that very moment.

"How was Paris?" he asked.

"How was college?" she asked in reply, to which Mike glared at her in mock anger. "I'm not out of it yet!" he told Lauren. "But don't worry, I'll tell you all about it. You'll be sorry you asked." He leaned over and picked up one of her two bags.

Jayden picked up the other one, while Lauren smirked and replied, "You'll feel the same way about Paris. Emily, which room am I staying in?"

"Your room is two doors down from Mike's." Emily told her, while Jayden chimed in, "We can handle your bags for now, Lauren."  
"Really? Thanks." Lauren complied. Both Jayden and Mike knew that she could handle both her bags fine, but they could also tell she wanted to catch up with everyone else, especially Mia, who looks excited to tell her about hers and Kevin's engagement.

So the two rangers trekked upstairs to Lauren's room. As they walked up the stairs, Mike said to Jayden, half-joking but half-serious, "So what's this about the news Emily wants to tell us?"  
Jayden was blushing a bit now, and Mike actually found it funny. Maybe it was cruel of him, but he had to admit seeing the red ranger get flustered, after always being completely on top of everything and in control, was amusing. He opened the door to Lauren's room without answering.

Mike noticed that Lauren's bedspread was crimson, and which basically confirmed his suspicion that Emily had color-coded the bedspreads to each ranger's color. It was a strange, considerate, and very Emily thing to do.

Then Jayden spoke up. "Well, I should probably let Emily tell you, as she's bursting to do it, but you know-"

"Ah, I can wait." Mike replied.

"Well, it's just-"

"Hey guys?" The two had just been walking out of Lauren's room, having deposited her bags on the floor for her, when they heard Mia's call up the staircase. "I think you should come and see this…" Jayden and Mike exchanged looks before quickly going down the staircase.

In the living room, all the rangers were assembled, all looking intently at the TV screen. Scooping his plate of cake off of the coffee table, Mike settled himself on the floor to see what they were all looking at.

On the TV was the 11 o'clock news. A reporter was speaking.

"Recently there have been disappearance and damage done to Paranorma City…it's unknown if these cases are connected, but a recent photograph, taken by an innocent bystander-turned hero as he rescued has revealed something quite strange…" The screen flashed to the aforementioned photo.

As soon as it was showed on the screen, Mike flopped backwards against the coffee table. "I knew this would happen!" he groaned.

Kevin had a stony expression as he looked at the screen. "Great," he sighed. Meanwhile, Mia was shaking her head, saying, "Seriously?"

Lauren glanced around the room, then back at the photo displayed on the TV. It showed a large, shadowlike…thing with protruding tentacles creeping around a corner, and a few terrified people. The photo's quality wasn't great, but it was obvious as to what it was- except to Lauren. "Just what is that?" she asked. "And why do you all look so…?"

"It attacked Mike just before you came," Emily explained. "This photo was taken a day ago, which means that this…whatever it is…has been running loose in Paranorma City."

Lauren's gaze flicked back over to the TV, and then to Mike. "It attacked you?" she asked. "With those tentacles?"

"Yeah." Mike sighed. "So I guess we should do something about it- assuming this is the same one- but what?"

"We don't even know what it is." Jayden said. "And I don'tthink that we can do anything about it tonight- it's already gone. That's what we agreed upon when we couldn't find it after it attacked you, remember?"

"But we need to eventually do _something."_ Kevin argued. "We're going to see Ji tomorrow, right? We should tell him then, and then search the city for it. Hopefully that's where it is, and it'll be relatively easy to defeat."

"Yes, we shouldn't just dive straight into attacking something." Mia agreed. "I think the city is safe from destruction until then."

"Wow…" Lauren said. "Have you guys been attacked by monsters even after the team broke up? I had an encounter once in Paris."

"Really?" Emily responded, interested. "Well, once Jayden and I were out in the city, and…"

That was how they spent the rest of their night, exchanging stories and eating cake. Lauren told them a lot about Paris, and everyone else caught her up on how they had been doing. Despite his fatigue, it wasn't until nearly 1 AM that Mike (and everyone else) got to bed.

And it wasn't until then that Mike realized Emily and Jayden had never told anyone their exciting news. However, by then everyone was in bed, and Mike was honestly too tired out to care too much anymore, even though he knew he would in the morning.

Just as he collapsed into bed, the green ranger glanced at his phone, wondering if he should call Abby. However, he vetoed the idea almost immediately. It was late and he was exhausted; it honestly wasn't the time to call Abby. _In the morning…I can do it all in the morning._ And then Mike was too tired to do anything else but switch off the lamp and go to sleep.

**/ / /**

When Mike heard an obnoxious ringing sound, he thought he was dreaming. In a rather deep sleep, he merely turned over and continued to slumber.

However, after about three minutes of the sound invading his sleep and being increasingly annoying, Mike knew he wasn't dreaming it. His eyes opened, showing him his dark room, barely a sliver of moonlight shining through the curtains.

Groggy and barely awake, Mike rubbed his eyes and searched irritably for the source of the ringing noise. It was his phone, on his bedside table, ringing incessantly. Not pleased at being woken up in the middle of the night (although it was partially his fault for not turning his phone off) Mike cursed his phone mentally for interrupting his sleep.

Picking up the phone, Mike said a half-hearted, fatigued, "Hello?"

"Mike!" came a cheerful, familiar, incredibly-irking-at-4 AM voice. "Thank God you picked up, I thought I was going to be out here forever!"

Squinting at his phone, Mike suddenly realized who he was talking to. "….Antonio?"

"Yep, it's me!"

Mike glared at the phone, suddenly quite awake. "Antonio, why in God's name are you calling me at this time? What the h-"

"Hey, hey, I have my reasons!" Antonio said quickly, probably sensing Mike's mood. "Listen, amigo, it was awful. I got off of the plane, and couldn't find my luggage! I eventually got it, thankfully, but then I could find a car to rent so I took the bus and had to walk to Emily's house! At, like, 2 o'clock!"

"I did the exact same thing." Mike replied. "Except in daylight."

"Yeah, but _you _weren't on an international fishing trip, were you? Well, never mind. The doors are all locked and I need you to open one up for me!"

"Why me?" Mike asked, leaning against the headboard.

"Well, you see, I didn't want to call the home phone, because either no one would get it or it would wake everyone up-"

"You're waking _me_ up right now." Mike pointed out.

"I tried calling Emily and Jayden!" Antonio protested. "But they had their phones off. So I tried you. Please, Mike, come open the door and be a good friend, si?"

"Fine." Mike grumbled. "But I'm not getting out of my pajamas, or helping you carry your bags."

"Great!" Antonio cheered on the other end, and Mike, ever the morning/night person, promptly hung up on him.

Tossing the comforter and sheets back and rising from the bed, Mike desperately wanted to climb back in. But he had already promised his friend that he'd come get him. _What the….Emily said he'd throw a frozen fish at my window at 3 AM, and she's almost right. Except this is worse. I can sleep through a fish._

Mike trudged downstairs and unlocked the door, trying not to wake anyone. He was greeted with an enthusiastic Antonio, standing there, bundled up and holding his bags. "Mike! Thanks so much! It's so good to see you!"

Mike combed a hand through his hair. "We're not hugging now." He ordered. "We can do all that and talk in the morning. For now, you can just go to your room."

Antonio smiled, a little devilishly, but he had a sympathetic look in his eye. "Fine. I won't torture you anymore."

"You'd better not. You took my precious sleep. And try not to wake anyone up, okay?"

"I won't." Antonio promised, following Mike up the stairs. "Hey, which room is Lauren's?"

Mike shot Antonio a look, to which the gold ranger rolled his eyes. "Honestly, have you no faith in me, Mike? I-"

"She's sleeping." Mike told him in a slight whisper. "So _don't _go in there and wake her up. Here- this is the only empty room. I'm assuming it's yours. Good night."

"Wait, Mike." Antonio called out, quietly of course. "Guess what, I brought a lot of fish. Don't worry; I'll make some for you and everyone else in the morning."

"Fish? For breakfast? Who has fish for breakfast?" Mike argued. Antonio sat there, contemplating it, before speaking.

"Hey, Mike, Samurai are Japanese, aren't they?"

"Yeah…"

"And we're Samurai, right?"

"Yes, I guess we are- but we're not Japanese! Where are you going with th-"

"I heard that Japanese people eat fish for breakfast! So, trout for breakfast!"

"Good night, Antonio." Two doors shut softly, and before long silence had fallen over the dark house again.


End file.
